


Of The Sun

by Kingrey



Series: NDAW [3]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, that's it that's the whole concept, this is soft, very self-indulgent because i just wanted to talk about my favourite hc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 12:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29489694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kingrey/pseuds/Kingrey
Summary: New Dream Appreciation Week Day Three: Date"Rapunzel, I… I- do have something to tell you," he smiled, before breathing in deeply and squaring his shoulders."You're not going to ask me to marry you again, are you?" she said lightly, before grinning when he laughed at her joke. He seemed to relax a little, which was exactly what she had wanted.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Series: NDAW [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2162166
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	Of The Sun

**Author's Note:**

> HI AND WELCOME TO me being soft about an hc of mine asgdshdg i don't wanna spoil it but yeah i'm pretty happy about about this story so i really hope you'll enjoy it too!!

Eugene was the best at organising dates. It wasn't a competition, of course, but the fact was undeniable, especially to Rapunzel who experienced them first hand. She was good too, sure, though she was more often into improvising their time together than actual planning; but Eugene was able to craft the most incredible days for the two of them - it nearly felt like magic, with how precisely he could guess the time she would spend being distracted and exploring. He always did his best to make everything perfect, and more than often managed it, which Rapunzel couldn't be more grateful for. 

Which was why she immediately noticed when he started acting weird on their date today. 

Not too weird, of course, but he was... distracted, she'd say. When they walked hand in hand in town, and she inevitably became interested by a vendor or some other thing catching her attention, Eugene's gaze strayed to the horizon, and she turned back to see him completely lost in his thoughts. It wasn't anything big, but it _was_ unusual - Eugene was always so attentive on their dates.

She hesitated, before asking him if anything was wrong, but he shook his head and took her hand, leading her to another of his planned activities. She tried to keep an eye on him. 

Their date slowly led them to the port, and Rapunzel smiled, knowing that this was definitely a boat kind of night. She loved those, but she also knew that Eugene reserved them for what he considered to be their most important dates, the ones he wanted her to remember. She wondered if that had anything to do with his distraction.

"Hey," she said, as they walked on the docks, "are you okay?" 

"Hm? Oh, uh, yes, of course, why wouldn't I be?" he smiled, still a bit too distracted for her to take him at his word. 

"I don't know, you... you seem kinda lost in thoughts tonight. Do you want to talk?" 

"I... Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind," he smiled. 

"Is everything alright? Do you want to tell me something?" she asked worriedly, turning to face him. He opened his mouth, looking for his words helplessly, before closing it. 

"Everything's fine, I swear," he finally said, pushing her hair behind her ear. "Can we get on the boat? I'll explain everything then." 

She looked at him for a little while longer, and saw how earnest he was being. He did seem anxious, but not- not sad. That was good. She smiled, and they walked towards their boat, sitting down together like they did so many times. Eugene loved steering it, and Rapunzel was happy to let him do it, loving the feeling of moving on the water. With a practiced ease, Eugene led them to their favourite spot - the one making them face the entire island. 

But she had no eyes for the scenery tonight. Only for him. 

"So?" 

"So," Eugene parroted awkwardly. 

"This date is amazing," she said, when he stayed silent. 

"Every date with you is amazing," he answered immediately, always quick to be a sap. 

"Aww Eugene, every date with you is amazing too." He softened at that, and that seemed to be enough to spur him into talking. 

"Rapunzel, I… I- _do_ have something to tell you," he smiled, before breathing in deeply and squaring his shoulders. 

"You're not going to ask me to marry you again, are you?" she said lightly, before grinning when he laughed at her joke. He seemed to relax a little, which was exactly what she had wanted. 

"I don't know, would you still say yes?" 

"Yes." She took his hands and met his eyes, not an ounce of hesitation in hers. She knew he was joking, but she was not - and just in case it hadn't been clear before, she was ready to say yes a million more times. "Yes, Eugene, I want to marry you. Do you-" 

"Yes!" he answered quickly, and the darkening sky couldn’t hide the blush growing on his cheeks. "I didn’t mean- Of course I want to marry you too Rapunzel, this is... The idea that soon I'll be your husband literally keeps me up at night." 

"Oh I know," she laughed, thinking about how just yesterday night, she had fallen asleep to the sound of Eugene excitedly rambling about wedding decorations. 

Most people seemed surprised to see him as delighted as she was, if not more, by the planning of their marriage, but Eugene was thriving taking care of the preparations. It was the cutest thing to see him so invested in making this their perfect day, especially when she had just as much fun with this as he did. They had other duties to attend, but lately, they loved spending their free time discussing little details for hours, daydreaming about how their wedding would go. 

"So," she prompted him again, "what did you want to ask me?" 

He swallowed visibly, his thumb stroking the top of her hands anxiously. She wondered what could put him so on edge - she knew it couldn’t be something too bad, because he wouldn't have waited that long to tell her, but she was definitely curious now. 

"It... It was linked to the wedding, actually," he smiled awkwardly. "I- Do you remember what you dad said the other day?" 

"... _I'm sorry son, but I really don't think the lion heads are a good idea_?" 

Eugene snorted. "No, no, the discussion about the royal traditions." 

Rapunzel grimaced, remembering very well the very long and very detailed list of everything a royal wedding was supposed to be. Eugene and her had managed to convince her dad that most of it was unnecessary, and that they deserved a wedding _they_ dreamed of, but it had taken a while. A very long while. 

"I wish I could forget," she sighed, a playful smile on her lips that Eugene returned. "Are you worried about that? Because I think my dad understood that traditions weren't really our thing, though if he does insist again, I promise I won't let him force us into anything." 

"I know you won't, but- Okay, uh, I was thinking about- well, not thinking thinking, more like, slightly wondering? I won't force you if you don't want to but... Uh..." 

"Eugene," she said softly, her hand going to his cheek. "Whatever it is, you can tell me." 

His own hand enveloped hers, and he breathed in. "I know. It's- It's not that big of a deal, I don't know why I'm making it this hard, I just... Remember the thing he told us about our last names? How usually, the royal consort would take the name their spouse chose when they became King or Queen?" 

She scanned his face, trying to understand what he was thinking about this, but beyond anything, Eugene seemed embarrassed. "Eugene, of course I'm not going to force you to do that. All these rules have as much power as I want them to have, and I... I know how important your name is for you."

She still remembered very well these first days at the castle, when he sometimes forgot to react to his own name. She also remembered how he smiled when she said it, and how he defended it loudly to anyone who tried to call him Flynn Rider. Eugene had spent years hiding his identity to everyone, even to himself; he had spent years despising who he was at that time. She hadn't immediately understood the weight of his confession in the cave, when he had thought they would both drown, and decided that his last action on this Earth would be to give her his trust and honesty. She hadn’t really known back then the power a name had, and how important they could be to people.

Eugene embracing his name was also him embracing who he was entirely; it was him starting to love himself again, because she loved him first. She never wanted to be the one who forced him to change, to abandon what he fought for so hard, be it with himself or with others.

"That's the thing, though, I- I wouldn't mind. Taking your last name, that is, I wouldn't mind that," he said so quickly, she nearly didn't get it.

"You wouldn't?"

"Well, Eugene Der Sonne has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?" His smile was hesitant still, and Rapunzel's confusion must have shown a little too much on her face, because he immediately tried to backtrack. "That's okay if you don't want to, of course. Or if you think that's weird- is that weird? It's probably weird, why don't we talk about literally anything els-"

"Eugene- Eugene! Hey," she said softly, scooching as close as the boat allows her - their knees were uncomfortably pressed against each other, but that was the last thing she cared about right now. "It's not- please explain it to me? I don't think it's weird, I simply thought you wouldn't want to. I don't want you to do something you're uncomfortable with only because it's tradition."

His eyes soften at this and, finally, he seems to calm down completely. He looks at the water around them, and she does too, seeing how it shimmers with the reflection of the stars. That was one of the reasons she loved their boat dates, especially at night - it always felt like they were floating with the entire universe under them. But it all was nothing compared to having Eugene there with her, his own eyes shining brighter than any star ever could.

"You're right, my name means a lot to me," he started, voice quiet. "I've spent- a good chunk of my life trying to figure out who I was, who I wanted to be, and for the longest time, I was sure I would never get an answer. When I met you… When I met you, I knew I wanted to be someone worthy of the chance you gave me. I wanted to be Eugene Fitzherbert, because I trusted you with everything I had been hiding for years, and… And I wanted to be someone you could love."

"I would love you no matter what," she couldn't stop herself from saying.

The shy smile on his lips made it harder for her not to announce again how much she loved him, no matter his name, no matter his flaws, no matter his past. Eugene had this strange idea that everything he had done as Flynn was terrible, and that he had to do his best to leave it behind but- she had met him as Flynn. She had become friends with Flynn, despite blackmailing him to get to the lights. Flynn had made her laugh, Flynn had tried to protect her, and… Flynn was Eugene, too. There was nothing in Eugene that Rapunzel didn't love.

It was his time to speak, though.

"It was hard, to be Eugene Fitzherbert again," he sighed, once again looking at the horizon so he could avoid her gaze. "I had never truly figured out who that was before becoming Flynn, and suddenly I had all this- all this empty space inside of me, and I didn't know what to do with it. There was so much changing all at once when we came back…"

He trailed off, and she squeezed his hand, because she knew exactly what he was talking about. She had so much trouble figuring out her place back then. There's a bittersweet feeling in her chest, because she hadn't realised that Eugene was struggling too, but there was nothing she could do now. She tried to remember that.

"Anyway," he said, a little brighter, "life brought its lot of surprises."

"Aw, I don't see what you're talking about," she teased him. They both laughed.

"I just… Rapunzel, after everything, there's still a lot I don't know about myself, but now I think- I think there's no definite answer to be found. I think that every minute, every day will change me in ways I can't predict, and that's okay. But there's one thing… One thing I know won't change."

They were facing each other again, her hands in his, and so close that any second, she could close the distance and kiss hum. His expression was… There was tenderness in it. An infinite devotion, all focused on her.

"I love you, Rapunzel," he said, and despite this being a common occurrence, her heart skipped a beat anyway. Eugene had a way to say it that sounded new each time. "And I may not always know who I am, or who I want to be, but I know that I want to be at your side for as long as you'll let me."

"Forever," she breathed. "I want that to be forever."

The warmth of his smile made her want to cry. "Me too. And that's why… That's why I thought it made sense, to take your last name." He blinked a little quickly, and Rapunzel understood she wasn't the only one who was emotional. "Because no matter where my path leads, no matter where yours takes you, I want… I want everyone to know that I'm yours. That you're my home, my family, and the person I care about the most. I…" he seemed to hesitate. "Rapunzel, I want you to be part of my identity. There's no name I'd feel more comfortable with than yours."

Rapunzel sniffed, eyes burning and throat tight with emotions. "You've gotta stop being so sweet Eugene," she laughed, her voice wobbly. "How am I supposed to function if you keep making me cry by being the most wonderful person on this Earth?"

"Is that your way to say yes?" he answered cheekily - though she could hear the emotion in his own voice.

"Yes," she smiled brightly, feeling one tear escape the confines of her eyes. "I- I wish- Argh," she exclaimed, "there's nothing I can say that you didn't say better just now. You're my home too, Eugene."

Her vision was blurred with the tears now, and his thumb came softly to wipe them off her cheeks. Eugene leant towards her, and kissed her forehead tenderly, before hugging her to his chest.

"I'm taking that as a general 'ditto'," he announced, and she snorted, nodding against his shoulder. "I'm glad, because I started to doodle 'Eugene Der Sonne' everywhere on my reports, and I can't wait to use it as my real signature."

"You dork," she grinned, turning her head and noticing the tears on his own cheeks. She raised her hand to wipe them off, and saw the blush rise on his cheeks again - Eugene was more sensitive than he was willing to admit, and he tended to be embarrassed about that.

Never enough to hide from her, though. They shared their happy tears together.

Head still resting on his shoulder, Rapunzel kept admiring him silently, taking notice of how beautiful he was under the moonlight. "It suits you, you know."

"Hm?"

"Eugene Der Sonne. It suits you," she repeated.

His smile seemed to glow in the darkness. "Thank you, I think so too."

She hummed, even though she was pretty sure they were not having the same line of thought here. Eugene thought of this name as the representation of his love for Rapunzel. He thought it fitted him, just like he fitted with her. 

But Rapunzel was being more literal, right now. 

She was seeing how he shined with love and happiness in the darkness; was remembering the times when he had been her only guiding light, the one constant in her life she could always depend on. She was thinking of him with kids, and how caring he became with those he knew were struggling; was thinking about his lips on her skin, offering warmth to her heart without an ounce of hesitation. She was thinking of his bravery, of him leading Corona during his crisis, of him holding her close when she didn’t know what to do, of him giving up everything to the people he loved if the need ever arose.

She was thinking of how dark and grey her world was without him. How quiet and cold his absence made everything. How he called her Sunshine, but was as much her ray of light in the dark as she was his.

Eugene Of The Sun. Of course it suited him.

**Author's Note:**

> EUGENE DER SONNE SUPREMACY
> 
> fdhdsgh sorry i just. have so many feelings about this hc, and this date prompt was clearly free real estate for me to talk about it
> 
> I hope you liked this!! tbh i actually do like this one so idk i hope i'm not alone on that ;-; i was just very excited about showing this one, it was one of the first fic i finished for this week so idk agfdghsh  
> See you tomorrow!! (hopefully??)


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